Quincy Cold
by Sango Hikari
Summary: When Ishida catches a cold, who should care for him but Orihime? Oneshot IshiHime.


_AH-CHOO!_

Heads turned to look at him as Ishida Uryuu grabbed a tissue and blew his nose for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. He sighed and tried to concentrate on the math equations his teacher was writing on the board, but wasn't having much luck. He sniffed, eying the clock on the wall. _Only a half hour to go…_

He refused to believe that he was sick. He, as a Quincy, _never _got sick. It just didn't happen. In all the years of his life, he had never even gotten a cold; at least, as long as he could remember. Yes, he had been hurt before, sometimes severely and had to be hospitalized, but never had he even been to a doctor because of signs of illness. Not to mention the fact that if, by some odd chance, he did become sick, then he would not be able to live up to his family's expectations, not only in the art of Hollow slaying, but with school work and such as well. So in his mind, he was not sick. Only some minor allergic reaction to something.

_But you don't have any allergies,_ a small voice inside his head said. He ignored it, however, and stuck to his theory. The bell finally rang, signaling the end of the school day. Sighing with relief, Ishida began to gather up his things, glad to finally be going home. Those allergies were driving him nuts!

"Ishida-kun?"

He looked up to find his classmate and fellow Hollow slayer standing by his desk, Inoue Orihime. She had her hands clasped behind her back, her usual smile replaced by a slight frown. "Yes, Inoue-san?"

"Are you alright?" she asked. "You've been sneezing and blowing your nose all day! Maybe you have a cold?"

"Ah, no, Inoue-san," he replied, adjusting his glasses. "It's only my allergies, nothing more. I'm fine."

"But you don't have allergies, Ishida-kun," Orihime said, reaching a hand down to feel his forehead. "Besides, you're warm! I think you have a slight fever." She smiled, proud of her expert medical deduction.

"Nonsense," Ishida said, and, having finally finished gathering his belongings, stood up, ready to leave. "I have never been sick before in my life. This is just some strange allergic reaction to something and it will go away tomorrow." And, with that, he left.

----------

Ishida was not at school the next day.

He, being the excellent student that he is, had never missed a day of school. Even when he had been fighting Hollows, he always made sure that he was back to class on time. So even the teacher commented on his failure to show up that day, saying how unusual it was for him to be absent. No one was more upset, however, than Orihime.

"I told him he was sick!" she ranted to her friends. "I'm going over there later and I'm going to heal him, just to show him that I was right!"

"Um, Orihime?" the orange-haired Kurosaki Ichigo said. "Can your ability even heal colds?" Beside him, their other friend, Yasutora Sado, known as Chad, nodded, wondering the same thing.

"I guess I never really thought about it…" Orihime said, putting a finger to her chin, as if she was thinking about something. "In any case, I'm going to see him anyway. You know, to make sure he's alright. Oh, I know! Maybe I can make him dinner! I'm sure that'll make him feel better!" Ichigo and Chad sweatdropped, both thinking that Orihime's cooking would probably make Ishida feel worse, if not kill him, instead of curing him.

----------

Ishida was lying comfortably on his couch when he heard a knock at the door. He had finally come to terms that he was indeed sick, and was doing everything he could to make himself feel better. Unfortunately, the chicken soup he'd had the night before hadn't agreed with his stomach, and he ended up seeing it again in the middle of the night. So, having no success in curing whatever illness he had, he had decided to stay home that day.

He groaned as he stirred underneath the layers of blankets he had spread over himself, not wanting to leave the warmth of his makeshift bed. At first he thought of just ignoring whoever had so rudely interrupted his nap, but the knocking persisted, so he really didn't have a choice in the matter. He shuffled towards the door, and almost fell over from shock when he saw who it was. "I-Inoue-san?"

"Hiya, Ishida-kun!" The red-headed girl said happily, holding up a plastic bag. "I figured you weren't feeling well, so I thought I'd make you something!" Upon further inspection, Ishida saw the contents of the bag: instant ramen, bean paste, hot sauce, pickles…random food items that no normal person would ever think to have at one time. As she stood holding the bag, Ishida wondered if he would be saying hello to more contents of his stomach. "Ah, thank you, Inoue-san, but food doesn't really sound good right now."

She lowered the bag. "Oh, sorry! I didn't know you're stomach wasn't feeling good, either."

"It's fine, Inoue-san. I appreciate that you came all the way out here to see me. I would invite you in, but," he glanced down at the pajamas he was wearing, turning slightly red at being seen in them, "as you can see, I wasn't really prepared to have company. I also wouldn't want you getting sick as well." At this, Orihime just shook her head.

"Don't worry about me! I have a really strong immune system! I hardly ever get sick! At least that's what my brother used to say." Orihime's eyes got clouded for a moment at the remembrance of her brother, but cleared almost instantly. "Anyway, it's not good to be alone when you're sick!" She immediately went into lecture mode, telling Ishida various reasons why he shouldn't be by himself while sick. They ranged from reasonable things, like how he would have no one to cook for him and such, to very strange reasons; she had many of those. Ishida's favorite was the one where evil space rabbits would come and abduct him while he was resting. He also took note of all the exclamation points at the end of her sentences, wondering where she got all her energy.

Eventually he let her come inside, mostly because he didn't really want to just leave her standing on his porch. A cool wind was blowing, and he was afraid that she just might catch a cold whether she came ins or not. That, and he desperately needed to blow his nose.

"Wow, Ishida-kun!" Orihime exclaimed as Ishida retreated to the comfort of the couch. "You're house is so clean! You live here alone, right?" Ishida grunted, which she took as a yes. "I wish my house was this neat! Does it matter where I put my bag?" She glanced at her host, who was once again snuggled under his blankets. He shook his head, telling her to just set it down anywhere.

"Well then, how about I make you some tea?" she asked. "Green tea works great for colds, I think! Or was it your digestive system?" she shrugged, digging into her bag. She pulled out a normal looking box of tea bags, causing Ishida to wonder if there was some sort of secret ingredient in them; there was no way she would have something as normal as regular tea. Even so, he gave his guest permission to use his kitchen, hoping that he wouldn't die of tea poisoning.

"This is very good, Inoue-san!" Ishida said as he sipped his tea. Before doing so, he had thoroughly inspected its contents for anything suspicious. When he had found nothing, he had cautiously taken a sip to find that it tasted very much like normal green tea. Orihime giggled, taking a small sip from her own cup. "I'm glad you like it!" They sat quietly for awhile, drinking their tea. "Do you think you'll be at school tomorrow?"

Ishida looked up. _That was random,_ he thought. Outside of his personal thoughts, however, he just smiled. "I think so. Why do you ask?"

Orihime smiled back. "It was lonely without you, Ishida-kun! I missed you!" This caused Ishida to blush slightly. "Besides, I don't like it when you're not feeling well!" Ishida quickly took a big gulp to tea, trying to hide his ever-reddening face. Not knowing what to say, he drank the rest of his tea in silence.

By this time, it was getting dark outside. Ishida suggested that she leave before the sun completely set, cursing his stupid cold for not letting him see her safely home. He was once again lying on the couch, this time having been specially tucked in by Orihime. She commented on his red face, saying that maybe he shouldn't go to school tomorrow because of his fever, but Ishida just mumbled that he was fine. As she was leaving, she seemed to hesitate near the door before turning back around and giving him a small kiss on the forehead.

"Get well soon, Ishisa-kun."

* * *

I know this wasn't very good nor exciting, but I was bored. Hope you liked it anyway! 


End file.
